This invention relates to a respirometer of the hot resistance wire anemometer type.
A conventional respirometer of the type described is useful in measuring the rate of an air flow of respiration of an animal, which may be a human being. This is because the respirometer gives little resistance to the air flow and has a small volume which would otherwise adversely affect the measurement as a serious dead void. It has been heretofore mandatory when measuring the rate of the air flow with a discrimination made between expiration and inspiration to use the conventional respirometer with a unidirectional valve attached thereto for allowing passage of the air flow of either expiration or inspiration only. It is to be mentioned here that the discrimination between expiration and inspiration is equivalent to a discrimination between the senses of the air flow. Returning back to the subject, use of the prior unidirectional valve makes it impossible to continually observe the respiration.